Jeremy Corbyn muddies water over Labour immigration policy after appearing to back EU free movement

Mr Corbyn is due to make a speech on Brexit and free movement today

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn (Getty)

Jeremy Corbyn has risked fresh confusion over Labour immigration policy after apparently backing EU free movement, just hours before giving a speech in which he was due to say his party is not "wedded" to the idea.

Mr Corbyn said on Tuesday morning that under him Labour "is not saying that anyone couldn’t come here", but in the afternoon he was to give a keynote speech suggesting the party might back a level of immigration control.

It comes after Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson said the party's position on immigration was not clear enough and risked damaging the party's election hopes. Other frontbenchers, such as shadow justice minister Keir Starmer, have been trying to pull Mr Corbyn into a position backing controls.

On Monday Labour pre-briefed extracts from Mr Corbyn's speech saying changes to the way immigration rules operate would be part of Brexit negotiations and adding “Labour is not wedded to freedom of movement for EU citizens as a point of principle."

But when Mr Corbyn was questioned on the matter on Tuesday, he told Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’re not saying that anyone couldn’t come here because there would be the right of travel and so on; the right to work here would have to be something that would be negotiated because that clearly cannot be put down yet until we know what the terms are of single market access.”

Meanwhile on ITV's Good Morning Britain he made clear that he would prioritise single market membership over immigration controls.

He said: "At the end of this there’s going to be a decision to be made about access to European markets or not. If the EU says access to the single market requires the continuation of free movement then there’s a choice to be made."

On how he would respond to a choice, Mr Corbyn said: “I would say we have to end undercutting and exploitation – that in turn would probably affect numbers – but I would say economically we have got to be able to trade with Europe."

On Sunday Mr Watson said Labour would lose the next general election if it backs the "status quo" on immigration and free movement and accepted that the party was not united on the issue.

Mr Starmer has sounded his backing for controls by saying the party's approach to Brexit should go beyond economic concerns, but shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has signalled her backing for free movement.